The Walking Dead: What We Become
by ProfessorTooney
Summary: The Walking Dead: What We Become is a SYOC (select your own character) story based of of The Walking Dead TV series. This is my first Fan Fiction writing and look forward to the art of storytelling.
1. First Introduction 2017

Hello to the SYOC and Walking Dead community. I have been enticed with the idea of writing a select your own character story and decided to mix it with one of my favorite realms in fiction: The Walking Dead. I have never written a fan fiction before and considered attempting one for my own. I have previous writing experience from creative writing, essays, and research papers.

The story will be set in Boston, Massachusetts and the surrounding areas during the spring of 2010. The first chapter will be based around two characters I created. The rest will be the story of the characters as they survive the new world. This will be in the same universe as The Walking Dead television series, but I do not plan to have our group interact with Rick's group.

Here are the rules for submitting a character:

1\. Send all characters through PM. I will not look at them otherwise!

2\. Keep the characters grounded. Do not have a teenager in high school who picks up a sniper rifle and immediately knows how to use it. I recognize that people have their advantages and disadvantages but do not make your character invincible.

3\. No Mary Su's.

4\. I plan to have a good variety of ages. I do not plan for a group of all teenagers or young adults.

5\. I am still in school and am busy with assignments. Please put effort into these characters to make it worth my time. I will try to update once a week

6\. Put the word "walker" at the end of your application if you have read all of the rules.

7\. Message me if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions for me. I will try to respond as soon as possible.

Follow the steps below for a character's profile. I will be accepting at least eight more characters and possibly more. Good luck everyone!

Name (and nickname if there is one):

Gender:

Sexual Orientation:

Age:

Birthday:

Occupation:

Ethnicity:

Religion (Optional):

Height: 

Weight (Coordinate with height):

Body Type (Coordinate with height/weight):

Hair Color/Style:

Eye Color:

Skin Tone:

Physical Features (freckles, tattoos, piercings, etc.):

Physical Abnormalities (scars, burns, injuries, etc.):

Personality (two sentences to a paragraph):

Background (paragraph or two):

Favorite Quote (develop a feel for the character):

Likes (at least 4):

Dislikes (at least 4):

Fears (develop a feel for the character):

Romance (willing to commit to a relationship? If so what are his/her interests?):

Family (name, age, gender, alive or dead?):

Strengths (Max 5):

Weaknesses (Min 3):

Preferred Weapons (keep it reasonable):

Starting Gear:

Clothing:

Other:

Here are my two characters Alan Atkin and Jenna Atkin:

Name (and nickname if there is one): Alan Atkin

Gender: Male

Sexual Orientation: Straight

Age: 48

Birthday: 1/04/1962

Occupation: Fireman

Ethnicity: German

Religion (Optional): N/A

Height: 5'8"

Weight (Coordinate with height): 159 lbs.

Body Type (Coordinate with height/weight): Mesomorph

Hair Color/Style: Brown/Short

Eye Color: Brown

Skin Tone: Light skinned

Physical Features: (freckles, tattoos, piercings, etc.): N/A

Physical Abnormalities (scars, burns, injuries, etc.): Bum left leg.

Personality (two sentences to a paragraph): Caring towards people and will always try and help as many people as possible. If Jenna or anyone else closer to him is at risk, then he will make sure they are safe before he helps anyone else.

Background (paragraph or two): Alan grew up in Winthrop, MA. His father was a fireman and Alan looked up to him for his bravery. Alan decided to become a fireman like his father due to his love for helping people and to show off his strength. In Alan's first mission as a fireman he saw a woman and her young family burn alive before his eyes. Alan was scarred that he couldn't help them and vowed to protect as many as possible. While trying to escape the building, a piece of the ceiling fell on his left leg which would injure it for life. Luckily, one of his friends saved him and they both escaped the fire. Alan never had anyone die in a fire that he worked on for the rest of his career. Later in life, Alan married a women named Jeanette who worked in downtown Boston as the owner of a spa. Jeanette grew up in France Alan and Jeanette gave birth to Jenna two years after their marriage. Five years after Jenna's birth, Jeanette was killed by a serial killer while walking to the bus from work. The killer was never caught and Alan was remorseful due to not being able to follow up on his promise he made during his first mission. Alan and Jenna continued to live together for ten years until the outbreak struck.

Favorite Quote (develop a feel for the character): "We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know." W.H. Auden

Likes (at least 4): helping people, camping, working with friends, having a conversation with people

Dislikes (at least 4): traveling, liars, snow, people who don't work

Fears (develop a feel for the character): Scared of watching people die

Romance (willing to commit to a relationship? If so what are his/her interests?): Yes. Women who are willing to commit to a relationship not just for sexual pleasures. Also likes women with accents.

Family (name/age/gender/relationship to character/alive or dead?): Jenna/15/Female/Daughter/Alive, Jeanette/45/Female/Wife/Dead

Strengths (Max 5): sturdy, motivating, team-work, uniting, deep sleeper

Weaknesses (Min 3): Rash thinker, easily persuaded, blunt, doesn't take criticism easily, can't run as fast as others

Preferred Weapons (keep it reasonable): Fire ax

Starting Gear: Fire ax, gas mask, fireman's helmet with flashlight

Clothing: Tan fireman's suit with black gloves and boots.

Other: N/A

Name (and nickname if there is one): Jenna Atkin (Jen)

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: Straight

Age: 15

Birthday: 1/06/1995

Occupation: Student

Ethnicity: German/French

Religion (Optional): N/A

Height: 5'1"

Weight (Coordinate with height): 101 lbs.

Body Type (Coordinate with height/weight): Ectomorph

Hair Color/Style: Brown with Blonde highlights/Long

Eye Color: Blue

Skin Tone: Pale

Facial Features (freckles, scars, burns, etc.): Freckles

Personality (two sentences to a paragraph): Jenna is very practical and rational. She also likes to finish things that she has started.

Background (paragraph or two): Jenna grew up being close to her parents. Once her mother Jeanette died when she was five she was heartbroken ever since. She made a promise to her just like her dad to make sure she has a successful future. Once in middle school, Jenna created a band with her friends known as "Duck Bait". Jenna was the bassist for the band. The band was successful until their freshmen year in high school when their lead singer and drummer got hooked on drugs. Jenna disbanded the band and started to focus more on her studies. She excelled in Algebra and her future was looking bright. That is when the outbreak hit.

Favorite Quote (develop a feel for the character): "Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas" - Albert Einstein

Likes (at least 4): Guitar, algebra, sleeping, orange soda

Dislikes (at least 4): Drugs, alcohol, snow, pets

Fears (develop a feel for the character):

Romance (willing to commit to a relationship? If so what are his/her interests?): Yes. Jenna is interested in guys who are logical and kind to others.

Family (name, age, gender, alive or dead?): Alan/48/Male/Father/Alive, Jeanette/45/Female/Mother/Dead

Strengths (Max 5): Rational, Quick thinker, small, small eater

Weaknesses (Min 3): Can't fight, scared of big animals, light sleeper

Preferred Weapons (keep it reasonable): None

Starting Gear: Floral backpack that contains a box of crackers, water bottles, orange sodas, a box of matches, some ibuprofen and cough drops, a duck bait poster, a deck of cards, and a picture of the family

Clothing: Cage the Elephant shirt, jeans that are ripped at the knees, thin-framed glasses, and light blue converses

Other: N/A


	2. Re-Introduction 2019

Well Hello people, I guess I'm back. It's been two years since I have last posted on here and man has it been a long couple of years. I apologize sincerely for never updating or following through with the various OC's submitted, and I hope I can be forgiven. However, I am back now, a freshman in college, ready to start what I never did.

I have updated my characters Alan and Jenna and have created a chapter for you guys to read and get a sense of my style in advance. I am willing to accept characters with an updated format (just read the rules for submitting on the first chapter). The previous OC's will **NOT** be used, but if you want to re-submit them, you can go on ahead.

I have a set schedule for releasing chapters and will notify people in advance if they will be delayed. I plan on creating a chapter every Sunday starting March 10th to give me some time to evaluate the OC's and plan the story. After that, a chapter will be released every Sunday after that, similar to the television series.

I plan to create them in separate Books or Seasons, so Book/Season 1 will consist of around 10-16 chapters depending on the amount of OC's sent in. The first handful of chapters will be dedicated to a character or set of characters submitted, so if your character isn't seen for awhile there is absolutely no need to worry. After a core set of characters for Book/Season 1 are introduced, I will then accept further applications for Book/Season 2.

Onto the format:

 _It's been thirty days since the first signs of the disease spread throughout the nation, and possibly the globe. It's August 25_ _th_ _, 2018 and Boston has been under martial law for days. Who are you?_

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Sexuality:

Birthday:

Occupation:

Ethnicity:

Nationality:

Religion (optional):

Height:

Weight:

Body Type:

Hair Color/Style:

Eye Color:

Skin Tone:

Physical Features:

Physical Abnormalities:

Personality (two sentences):

Background ( _at least_ two paragraphs):

Likes ( _at least_ four):

Dislikes ( _at least_ four):

Fears ( _at least_ one):

Romance:

Family:

Strengths ( _at most_ four):

Weaknesses ( _at least_ three):

Preferred Weapon (keep it _realistic_ ):

Starting Gear/Clothing (keep it _realistic_ ):

Other:

Here are the edit's for Alan and Jenna:

Alan Kyle Atkin

Gender: Male

Age: 54

Sexuality: Straight

Birthday: August 15th, 1964

Occupation: Fireman

Ethnicity: German/Finnish

Nationality: American

Religion: Agnostic

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 225 lbs

Body Type: muscular but heavy weight as well

Hair Color/Style: Brown, buzz cut

Eye Color: Green

Skin Tone: Pale, but tanner than normal

Physical Features: N/A

Physical Abnormalities: Bum leg.

Personality: Caring towards people and willing to help everyone. He is very standoffish with his emotions but can remain a stable and emotional rock towards the group.

Background: Alan grew up in a working-class family in which his father was a fireman as well. He looked up to him wholeheartedly and pledged to be just like his father and save people. Fresh out of high school, he worked his way to become a fireman. His first job, however, wasn't the best. He failed to save a young girl from the fire after she locked herself in her room after starting the fire. She ended up burning to death, and in Alan's escape his leg got stuck in a loose piece of plywood, which permanently injured it.

Alan was put on medical leave and worker's comp for his duty and has lived his life with his wife Madeline and daughter Jenna. A couple years later, Alan started swooning for another girl, and Madeline caught them. Alan and Madeline got a divorce and Madeline kept custody of their daughter. Alan has lived by himself for a couple of years in a downtown apartment and volunteering whenever he can around the city.

Likes: volunteer work, camping, hanging out with his daughter, women, drinking

Dislikes: traveling, liars, snow, people who can't handle their liquor

Fears: Scared of death and losing people who he has close relationships with

Romance: Not looking

Family: Jenna/15/Female/Alive

Madeline/48/Female/Zombified

Strengths: Motivated, Sturdy, Deep-Sleeper, Natural born leader

Weaknesses: Alcohol, his leg, easily persuaded by women, rash thinker

Preferred Weapon: Fire Ax

Starting Gear/Clothing: Light brown jacket with a Fireman's Volunteer T-shirt, backpack with pre-packaged food, two half full water bottles, a lighter, a family picture, and a fire ax.

Other:

Jenna Fiona Atkin

Gender: Female

Age: 15

Sexuality: Straight

Birthday: August 6th, 2003

Occupation: N/A

Ethnicity: German/French/Finnish

Nationality: American

Religion: Agnostic

Height: 5'7"

Weight: 130 lbs

Body Type: tall but underweight

Hair Color/Style: Brown long hair with a streak of dark blue dye in the bac

Eye Color: Blue

Skin Tone: Pale, but tanner than normal

Physical Features: Freckles and Thin Frame Glasses

Physical Abnormalties: N/A

Personality: Doesn't like to talk to people and finds herself very hard to connect with. She is also a practical and methodical person who favors reason over emotions.

Background: Jenna grew up living with her mother Madeline in the suburbs outside of Boston after her father and mother divorced. Jenna understood the split and took it surprisingly well, or at least that's how she shows it. She only wanted two things for Christmas from her mother and father after they split, a guitar and BB gun. She would use both of these things to let her emotions out, by making new songs or shooting at things with her new gun. When she was eleven, she decided to shoot an innocent squirrel with her gun in which Madeline took the gun away from her.

Throughout high school, Jenna succeeded in mathematics and sciences and her teachers would say she has a bright future ahead of her. She eventual found a small group of friends how started a band together; Duck Bait. They made songs in their garage and enjoyed times together. However, these were the only friends Jenna had and this worried her mother that she wasn't branching out as much as she should be.

Likes: doing math or science, playing guitar, shooting a BB gun, writing music

Dislikes: her father for the divorce, socializing, having glasses, suburbs

Fears: Socializing and wild animals

Romance: Not necessarily looking, but if a boy her age proved himself and they connected, she would go for it.

Family: Alan/54/Father/Alive

Madeline/48/Mother/Zombified

Strengths: Quick Learner, comfortable with guns, fast, quiet

Weaknesses: Not a people person, can't win in a hand-to-hand fight, Young

Preferred Weapon: Firearms (not a master, but comfortable with them)

Starting Gear/Clothing: Camo raincoat, black "Cage the Elephants" shirt, jeans with a rip at the left knee, Handgun with five bullets, an old backpack, a plastic water bottle, her guitar

Other:

So as a reiteration of the re-introduction, I will be posting the first chapter after this one. To all of the people who wanted to read, see their characters come to life, and enjoy what The Walking Dead universe as to offer, I am incredibly sorry I took that away from you guys.

But here I am again.


	3. Chapter 1: Sun Still Shines

The living room was rather pristine, with it's big windowpane letting a tremendous amount of light seep through. The room housed three pieces of furniture. When viewed from the dining room, the wooden rocking chair was on the left. On the seat of the chair was a red cushion, one that their grandmother knitted for them. In the middle rested a denim couch fit for three averaged sized people. There was a medium sized tan blanket that rested on it's back. The right was a small brown recliner. That was Jenna's chair. She proceeded to sit down, looking rather unphased from the act she just committed. Her warm handgun rested on her right thigh, with her index finger still firmly held to the trigger. The smoke was still coming out of the barrel and the sound of the gunshots were ringing through her ears. Her mind was racing in a million crazy directions.

However, she appeared calm. She wasn't shaking or twitching, every nerve in her body was still. She pushed her left hand up to her nose to tilt her thin-framed glasses back up to her face, to make sure they were still there. The smoke from the gun rose up to eye level and she stared at it. A physical entity to show what she had just done. Looking down, the gun felt heavier as gravity did its work, and she couldn't stand the thought her still holding it. She carefully tossed it onto the couch, and it landed with the barrel facing the dining room.

Facing directly at the lifeless body that laid in that room. She could only notice it's lifeless head. The hole in its head. The blood that splattered all over the wooden floor and freshly painted end table. The noise, the damned noise.

She got her mind off of it. Her guitar was upstairs in her room, and that would usually calm her down. Pretending to play an air guitar and hearing the vibrant notes in her mind would only remind her of the gunshots. She thought of math problems, her favorite subject from school. She was trying to remember what their last lesson was a month ago. What law was it? Were they supplementary or complementary angles? It felt like years ago to her, but it was only thirty days.

Thirty days. Thirty days since the world crumbled. It was first spread on the news. They tried to contain it. Anarchy ensued in major cities. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and eventually, our city, Boston. She remembered the riots. How people were fighting one another for food that they just robbed from the local supermarket. She could vaguely remember a guy in a black hood pulling a gun on an old lady to steal her can of soup and carton of milk. How could she remember all of this but not her math lesson?

The gun was still resting on the couch. She stared at it. What a commodity that gun probably is now in this new world. People would kill for something that could kill other people. Is this what life has now become? Killing and robbing just to survive? Or just to have the regular groceries of the world that was only _thirty-one days_ ago?

She reached her left hand down to the handle of the recliner and pulled it, pushing the bottom of the chair up allowing her feet to be raised. Even though this is our world now the sun must still be there right? She tilted her head to the right and looked out her window and searched until she found the giant star.

* * *

Alan woke up on his ex-wife's chair in her luxurious post-modern office. He must have fell asleep their last night. His head was pounding at the stray light which seeped in through the window. He looked at all of the files that lay strewn across the desk and even the half bottle of scotch that he was sipping on the night before. The files were numerous cases that Madeline has worked. Attempted Murder, Drug Smuggling, Human Trafficking, and many others were the ones that stood out to the middle-aged man. He sighed as he put the case files back into the shelf where they came from. As he got back up from the desk, he noticed a hanging picture of Madeline with Jenna. His daughter had to have been around eight or nine, and they were posed in a park. The picture seemed to be professionally shot, but Alan knew that it was a guy that Madeline found on Craigslist. She was stingy with money like that. Alan attempted to pin point how old his daughter exactly was in that picture. He thought how much of a shitty father he was if he couldn't even remember how old daughter is. Leaving the office, he made a left turn to go to the bathroom.

He trudged slowly, his left leg giving him pain and his shoulder still writhing from the day before. Reaching the bathroom, he proceeded to gaze into the medicine cabinet mirror. His brown hair was growing out ever so slightly from his buzz cut and the color of his green eyes seemed to endlessly be getting lighter. He put his left arm to his right shoulder and rotated it to see if it was still sore. He felt a sharp pain, and winced, cursing himself for even trying to check his shoulder. Opening the cabinet, his eyes gazed the medical supplies that he didn't pack in the two backpacks. He found some Advil and twisted the cap open. Pouring two capsules into his hand, he threw his head back as his hand extended to his mouth, swallowing the capsules.

Leaving the bathroom with Advil in hand, he went into Madeline's room to grab the two backpacks he packed from the previous night. He filled both with water and food to last them a couple of days, a lighter, a sharpened kitchen knife, off the shelf drugs, and even a piece of paper with all of the people from Jenna's band, Duck Bait. Zipping his backpack open, he placed the rest of the Advil. He decided to check the room once again before grabbing the bags. Checking under the bed, he thought about grabbing the thin layer of sheets from Madeline's bed, but noticed a small blood stain on them. He would just grab the blanket that was resting on the couch. Alan continued his search. And then searched the drawers.

The first one he opened was on the top left and it revealed a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. He never knew Madeline smoked. At least, never while they were together. He dug around the pack and found six were still left untouched. However, there was a small photograph on the inside. Alan pulled it out, and it looks like it was taken on an ancient camera. It was a picture of Madeline on a hospital bed, and Alan looking down solemnly at their only baby girl being held in the love of his life's hands. Alan's eyes started tearing up. He couldn't believe that she kept that picture. She missed Madeline and always regretted their separation.

He put the old picture back in the pack of cigarettes and tossed it into his backpack. He zipped it up, grabbed the two backpacks loaded with supplies and proceeded to go downstairs. His right foot was on the first step when he realized he forgot something. He ran back into the studied where he passed out the night before and grabbed the remaining bottle of scotch. Walking out of the study, he reached stairs until he got to the final stair. He could see a giant blood stain engraved onto the hard wood floor. He followed it up to where the floor creased the wall and noticed two small bullet holes carved into the wooden wall. Not wanting to remember what happened, he looked away and stepped over the dry puddle of blood.

Walking through the dining room into the living room, Alan noticed his daughter fell asleep on the couch. The gun was lying on the ground.

He went over to the rocking chair and sat down, looking out the window at the sunny day. He saw one of those things walking. It was right on their sidewalk, just taking a stroll in the heat of the bright afternoon. The thing was wearing a button-down shirt with the top three buttons undone, revealing the wrinkled and disheveled skin that was on its chest and neck. Alan could see his blue eyes, lightened as if it was blind. Alan looked back down at his sleeping daughter. He glanced at the two backpacks that laid down at his feet. He knew it wasn't safe out there, but it wasn't safe in here either. There were only two exits, and one was blocked by a giant backyard fence. He made his plan the night before and he had to follow it.

He got up from the rocking chair and extended his arm to shake Jenna on the shoulder. She woke up after a couple of shakes.

"Jenna honey, it's time to go"

Jenna turned over on her side to face her dad. She couldn't match his eyes though. Alan had the slightest clue of what was going on through Jenna's mind.

"I'm not sure if I want to"

"What do you mean? We have to go to my apartment. I have some food there still and there will be more painkillers for my shoulder."

"Can't you just deal with the pain?" Jenna replied quickly.

"Honey…"

Alan reached to move her legs so he could sit on the end of the couch, but she retracted them faster than he could reach, as if she was scared to be touched.

"My shoulder was popped, it's not going to get better unless I have more pain meds, and we ran out a couple days ago. I might also need to see a professional for it, and we are not going to find one if we stay here."

"But _they_ are out there Alan"

Alan hated it when Jenna called him by his name. He was her dad. He couldn't do anything about it though.

"Yeah I know, but I have my ax, and I packed some extra kitchen knives in case we need them to protect ourselves, and you have your- "

Alan stopped himself before he said the word "gun".

Jenna knew what he was going to say. She looked down at it laying on the floor.

"I'm not going. Not with _you_ "

"Jenna,"

She turned her body back towards the couch to face away from her father.

Alan was shocked at what her daughter just said. He could not take being called dad but hearing that his own daughter doesn't trust him or want to be with him hurt his heart.

He sighed.

"I don't know how many times I have to apologize to you, but I never meant to hurt…"

Jenna sat up. Tears began swelling in her eyes and they met with Alan's.

"Well dad guess what you did. You hurt mom. You hurt me. And you didn't even think about anyone else it would hurt. You were selfish, slimy, and disgusting for doing what you did that night to mom and I. You were just thinking about pleasure, or you were drunk, and you…you…"

Her tears couldn't be held in any longer. She broke down, and all Alan could do was hug her. She submitted and sobbed into his shoulder, his firemen's volunteer shirt and light brown jacket getting stained with the tears of his daughter.

"Jenna, you just called me dad."

Jenna looked at her father.

"No matter how much I might hate you, I will always love you dad. Just promise not to leave me again."

"I won't"

The two shared another hug on the couch as the raging sun's light shone through the window.

"You ready Jenna?"

"Yes dad."

Alan handed Jenna her packed backpack. He put his on and the two walked over to the front door.

"Wait" Jenna said as her father's hand was on the door knob.

She ran back into the dining room and up the stairs. Alan stood waiting. Seconds later, Jenna came down holding her guitar in its case.

"Now I am ready."

Alan gave her an assuring nod and twisted the door handle.

* * *

"You're going to get better I swear" Alan said kneeling down next to her holding her hand.

She was laying on her bed, almost lifeless. She was overcome with a strong fever she had for the past two days.

"No Alan, you know what's going to happen to me."

"Mad,"

"Don't call me that"

"It was just a small bite, you'll get through it."

"You know what the news said. You also knew what happened to the McGraw's next-door. It happened to Tim and Roger as well."

"Yeah but those were much bigger bites, yours is just a tiny one on your ankle."

"You know what needs to be done Alan."

Alan looked her in the eyes and started crying. Madeline refused to cry and looked away from her sobbing ex-husband.

"You know I have always…"

"Alan. Don't"

He wiped his nose with his right hand and stood up.

"I'll get a gun"

"No, get the knife, I don't want a giant hole in my head."

Alan nodded and walked out of the room. He knew what he had to do but he couldn't. Making his way down the stairs he looked at Jenna sitting at the dining table.

"Mom's going to die isn't she."

He was surprised that she was taking it so much better than him.

"Yeah, she is."

They both were in silence as Alan moved his attention to the kitchen knife on the counter.

"Guess you'll have to do it then."

"Yeah, guess so"

Jenna walked out of the room and went to sit on the recliner. Walking over to the counter, he grabbed the kitchen knife that was lying there. He studied its steel, how it has gotten duller as the days went by. The knife he was looking over was used to kill a couple of those things. He remembered slipping the sharp blade into the soft skin of the things as they were lurking around the house in the night, creating horrific moaning noises. That night was hell for everyone.

But now, he is going to have to slip the knife into one of the people he has loved most in the world. It's a new world now though. As if thinking that made it any easier.

He heard noises of thudding from the upstairs. It was rhythmic, as someone was taking step by step.

"Madeline?" Alan said gripping his knife tight. "Is that you honey?"

There was no response. Just the thuds, each one not missing a beat. He slowly walked over to the staircase to see what it was. Moving his right shoulder to take a quick peek.

Alan was struck by Madeline, as she tumbled down the stairs. She tackled him into the ground, and Alan's right shoulder was the first to make contact with the hard wood floor.

He noticed her light blue eyes, and her mouth gaping open, looking to bite. Madeline made growling noises as she tried to bite Alan, but he used both of his forearms to hold her back from sinking her teeth into his neck.

"Help! Jenna HELP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he continued to struggle with the reanimated corpse.

Madeline made one last attempt to take a chomp out of Alan's neck. As she lunged, he heard a popping noise from his shoulder. The pain from his shoulder was getting immense, and his former ex-wife was merely two inches away from ending his life for the second time. He closed his eyes, ready to give in.

 _BANG_

A noise that ringed throughout his ears. The bullet flew into his wife's arm. She looked up and growled at where the noise came from.

It was Jenna, holding her handgun. She took steady aim and shot three more times. The first and second bullet completely missed and went into the wall behind the two struggling on the ground. The third one landed right into one of Madeline's crystallized eyes.

Her body went limp, falling down onto Alan's who instantly gave up. The blood seeped into his clothes. He was trying to catch his breath, as Jenna stood there still holding her gun. She lowered it and looked at the scene that just unfolded.

She walked over to her chair and sat down.

Alan laid, with his ex-wife's warm body resting on his. He pulled himself out from under her and sat down in the dining chair trying to catch his thoughts.

He dragged his wife's body out the back door. He went to the garage and pulled out his shovel and spent the next couple of hours digging Madeline's grave. Planning on going upstairs to change and clean the blood on his body, he passed Jenna, who was still sitting in her chair looking out the window. He walked upstairs and took a water bottle from the bathroom and used it in its entirety to clean himself up. He went into his duffel bag that he took with him at the start and put on his spare set of clothes. He proceeded to pack two backpacks for Jenna and him. After packing, he put them both in Madeline's room. He went into his wife's office to find a bottle of scotch that he was working on for the past thirty days. Walking downstairs, he went to check on his daughter, who was still sitting on her chair. This time she was staring right at him, but not recognizing his existence. He proceeded to sit down on the dining room chair and took a swig of his scotch.


	4. Chapter 2: A World Lost

Hey yall I finished the next Chapter earlier than expected and decided to share it early. I am still planning on releasing the third chapter for next week. Thanks for everyone that submitted a character and even to the people who are just here for reading my story. Every little bit helps.

I am accepting one or two more submissions for Season 1 and am open to accepting some antagonists or characters to be introduced in Season 2.

Enjoy. :)

* * *

The local park used to house sprightful youths, who would run around chasing their imaginations and wildest dreams. Now those dreams have been plundered. Plundered by the plague of a month ago that has flipped the world upside down and made survival the most luxurious commodity. Now these parks, one playground in particular about twenty minutes outside of Boston, paid homage to the walkers. There were at least seven or eight of them, people with their own ambitions, downfalls, experiences, and all they want now is to feast. On the outer edge of the park was a hill with a bench on it which overlooked the bustling city. It was used for picnics or couples' dates, but now it stood as silent as the cool Autumn's breeze.

Just outside the park if you walked up the hill, laid a bright orange Volkswagen bus, it's exterior slowly deteriorating. Its windows were covered up with a tarp from the inside not to reveal the two people sleeping inside of it.

Oberon was the first to wake. He slid up from his side and stretched his arms outward letting out a big yawn. He wiped his Mono-Lidded eyes that let out small tears as he yawned. Roughing up his silky shoulder-length hair, he looked over at Zayn who was still lying asleep next to him. He let out a smile as he lovingly stared at his partner. His caramel skin that he always loved, the golden engagement ring on his left ring finger, and the fairy wing tattoo that was on his right wrist that he came home one day to surprise him with. Oberon shook his head when he noticed that Zayn had slept with his shoes unlaced but still on.

He crawled over to the front seat of the Volkswagen and pulled out Zayn's book of maps. He turned the hardcover and on the blank space, he noticed the tallies. There were twenty-nine in total. Oberon pulled a pen from the same backpack and marked the thirtieth tally. He put the pen and book back and grabbed a hair tie and tied up his hair into a ponytail, feeling the grease as he remembered he hadn't showered in so long. Oh, how much he would have given for a hot shower.

Zipping up the one bag, he grabbed his bag that was sitting in the passenger's seat. Opening it up, he dug around for some food. He went through plastic water bottles and a first-aid kit until he reached what he was looking for, the last box of granola bars. His hand entered the box and pulled one out. He looked into the box to see how many were left and was devastated to see that there were only three. They had other food, but it was only canned goods, and they would lose a good chunk of it trying to open it with a swiss-army knife rather than a can opener. Putting the granola bar box back into his backpack, he grabbed the swiss army knife and put it in his front right pocket. He slumped up against the inner wall of the Volkswagen and unwrapped his breakfast. He decided to wait until Zayn woke up to tell him they need to go on another supply run.

Around twenty minutes passed, and the built guy sat up from his slumber.

"Wakey, wakey" Oberon said in a mocking voice.

"What time is it Ob?" Zayn said in his Alabaman accent.

Ob checked the watch that they found on one of the walkers they killed days ago.

"It's just a couple minutes after nine"

Zayn crawled over to his bag and went to grab his book of maps.

"Don't worry, I already marked the day. We're on thirty."

"Thanks, Ob, how about food we still good?"

He went through the passenger seat bag to pull out the granola bar box.

"Well, we're quite low," Oberon said with a sly look.

Zayn looked up and gave him one too.

"Oh really, I couldn't realize that the box weighs as much as a feather. Hell, it probably weighs more than you."

"Hey, we all can't look as muscular and toned as you."

"Now you're flirting with me after I just insulted you?"

Oberon crawled over and put his mouth close to his ear to whisper.

"I bet I can kill more walkers than you today."

He gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"You're on."

Zayn gave him a peck on the lips and went to grab their weapons. He crawled past Oberon's violin and rolled it over, revealing two close-range weapons. The first one he grabbed was Oberon's old wooden cricket bat. He turned around to Oberon.

"Here you go cricket star."

Oberon smiled at the remark and grabbed the bat from his hands.

Zayn went back to his weapon, a small hatchet that he bought years earlier.

"Why did you ever buy that waste of money?" Oberon questioned with an interrogating look on his face.

"I don't know, I just liked it I guess, and it's been put to good use for the past couple of months"

Zayn admired the steel, that was surprisingly still sharp after a couple of years.

"Alright Pocahontas, let's go find some food"

Oberon slid the door to the Volkswagen and jumped outside. Zayn quickly followed.

The two observing the scene looked on at the ruins of the city. They were reminded of the downfall of the city, that night where looking outside their sixth story apartment window they would see crowds of screaming people and fire's just down the street.

The two walked to the nearest road and noticed a walker wearing a blue button-down shirt. The couple looked at each other and then the two raced for the walker, seeing who would be the first one to get there.

Zayn took an early lead, outpacing Oberon who had to run with a cricket bat. The race was close, and the walker noticed the two people running at him and started walking towards them for its next feast. However, Zayn tripped over his untied shoelaces and fell onto the dirt.

"Nice one you clumsy oaf!"

"Dammit Ob, I would have beat ya!"

Zayn recovered on his feet quickly, but it was already too late.

Oberon used the momentum to aid his swing with the cricket bat, and smacked the walker straight in the nose, crushing his face.

The walker fell to the ground stunned and Oberon stood over it and gave the walker two big swings into the head, pulverizing it's rotten skull like fruit.

"That's one for me!" Oberon said.

"Yeah, yeah, we still got a whole day ahead of us Ob."

"I think the winner should get an award for today, as it is a month ever since this shit show started."

"Oh yeah, what are you thinking."

Oberon gave him a suggestive look. Zayn let out a slightly uncomfortable, but cheerful laugh. Oberon stuck out his hand as he knew Zayn got the provocative message. Zayn looked at his hand, and into Oberon's eyes. Oberon nodded his head towards his extended hand. Zayn sighed.

"You're only doing this because you're winning right now, but fine you got a deal Ob."

Zayn extended his hand and they shook on the deal.

The two walked onto the street and noticed the first house on their right. It had a small white porch and was two stories.

"Alright mister tough guy, you knock on the door first"

"You're just mad that I'm up 1-0"

"Always the competitive type aren't ya Ob?"

"Well you're the one who proposed to me, so I guess you are stuck with the 'competitive' type," Oberon replied back.

"Damn, I guess I am" Zayn responded back with a smile.

Oberon walked over to the screen door and opened it. He proceeded to knock on the teal door.

"Hey!"

Oberon turned around quickly and gave a glare to Zayn.

Zayn looked towards the sky with childlike innocence.

"What?"

"Just because I know you like my ass doesn't mean you have to grab it all the time."

"I'm sorry I just saw the red bandana hanging out of your pocket, and it just looks so hot that I saw it as an invitation."

Oberon chuckled. The two waited until they could hear any walking from inside. They discovered early on that the walkers were like bats, that they relied on sound and could hardly see. The knocking on the door would allow the two to draw the walkers, if there were any, to the front door to see if there were any in there. They would usually avoid houses that had more than one.

Oberon waited, leaning against the teal door with one of his feet with black boots and red laces rested on it. Zayn kept watching on the street for any other walkers that may have been attracted to the noise. Minutes passed. Oberon was growing impatient. He reached for the doorknob and attempted to twist it. The door was locked from the inside and Oberon threw his hands up in frustration.

"Damn it it's locked, I'm going around the back to see if there's an open window, then I'll unlock the door"

"Alright, you think we gave them enough time to wake up?"

"Yeah, they would usually have come out by now."

Oberon hopped down the porch and reached the grass. He walked around to the back of the house.

Zayn kept a close watch of the streets. They were barren, deserted. He thought of the kids that must have run down this street, running ahead of their tired parents, excited to enjoy the wonders that the park held for them. This made Zayn feel somber, he looked down at his hatchet. He started to speculate that if there were any kids out there still alive, they would probably have to kill like them to survive. They made a game out of the walkers so they could get by easier and not remember the lives they used to live before. He missed his piano. He missed performing at the orchestra alongside Oberon. He missed studying at Julliard, and the first date he went on in with his fiancée, and all of his friends that he made throughout his life.

The teal front door opened behind him. Oberon motioned him forward with his left hand, but holding the cricket bat in his right, he held up his index finger to his mouth.

Zayn gripped his hatchet tight and walked over to Oberon. He instantly heard the banging from the up the stairs that were only five feet in front of the door.

"You hear that?" Oberon questioned.

"Yeah, that loud ass banging noise, yeah I hear it."

Oberon and Zayn proceeded into the house and walked up the stairs, slowly creeping their way up. As they reached the top, they deduced that the noise was coming directly from their right. Oberon peaked around the corner and noticed a door being banged on, a wooden stool was propped up against the knob, keeping whatever was behind that door out. They both could hear the moans.

They proceeded through the narrow hallway and stood in front of the door. They looked at each other as to figure out what to do.

"Alright Ob, you grab the stool and I'll crack the fucker's skull in."

"Wait, I don't want you to get tied up with me!"

The banging was getting stronger as they continued their debate.

"You're quicker and I'm stronger, it just makes sense come on we aren't dying in this house because I trip on the damned stool or because of some game you don't want to lose!"

"Damn it alright fine, I'll do it."

Oberon walked over to the stool and grabbed it with his left, allowing Zayn to have as much room as possible to dome the walker.

"On three, I'll pull the stool"

"Alright Ob"

Oberon looked up at Zayn, who held the hatchet over his right shoulder ready to swing. Oberon started the countdown.

"1…"

The banging was growing fierce.

"2…"

Zayn was silent and ready to kill, Oberon looked at the door ready to throw the stool behind him and swing at whatever came out of the door.

"3!"

Oberon swiftly tossed the stool behind him and backed up quick before the door could slam down on him. Two walkers came after them.

"Fuck it's two!" Zayn shouted.

He swung at the first one and carved his hatchet into its scalp, but the cut wasn't deep enough. Zayn let go of the hatchet and backed up, as it would have taken too much time to try and pull the hatchet out of the walker's skull. Oberon readied his cricket back and swung it over his head, not aiming for the walker's head, but the hatchet currently dug into its skull. Like hammering a nail into a piece of plywood, the cricket bat hit the hatchet with just enough power to jam the hatchet into the walker's brain. It laid limp and the other walker proceeded to come after them, its eyes crystallized and maw gaping wide.

With no time to recognize the glory of the kill, Oberon acted quickly. He positioned his cricket bat across his chest to hold the walker back. It chomped it's jaw repeatedly in front of Oberon, trying to grab a piece of meat.

"Zayn, my knife in the front right pocket! Grab it and stab the fucker!"

Zayn reacted just as quick. He dug into the pocket of Oberon's ripped black jeans and grabbed the knife. He flicked open the knife and grabbed the walker's skull with his right hand. He aimed right for its right eye and hit the mark. The blade, easily piercing the skull and penetrating the brain. It fell limp and Oberon, tired from the fight was carried down with the weight of the walker. Zayn quickly rolled the body off of him and stuck his hand out to help him up.

"Guess you're up two to one now uh?" Zayn responded.

Oberon smiled and quickly grabbed his hand to stand up. He embraced Zayn for a couple of seconds. Oberon leaned back a bit, but still in Zayn's arms.

"Did you see that first kill though?"

"Damn right I did."

The two chuckled and hugged again.

Releasing himself from the hug, Zayn walked over to the walker with its head split open and yanked the hatchet from its rotted head.

They then carried on their mission, searching the house for food. Zayn found a duffel bag and they proceeded to fill it up with whatever they could find. Cans of food, fruit snacks, granola bars, pills, books, until the entire bag was filled to the brim. Zayn even found a shotgun in an unlocked gun case that was kept in the same room the walkers were in.

Zayn attempted to zip the stuffed bag up while Oberon looked through the fridge.

"Damn, if only the electricity was still on then we could have had an excellent meal of leftover curry."

"Ob, seriously you know I hate that stuff just the thought of it makes me sick."

Ob closed the door and walked up to Zayn.

"Ready to head back to the Volkswagen?"

"Ready as ever."

"You know I won right?"

Zayn rolled his eyes.

"I know, I guess I'll make your night a little more special."

Oberon grabbed his shoulder and lifted himself up to give Zayn a kiss on the cheek.

The two walked out of the house, Zayn leading the way holding the duffel bag.

"Hey!"

Zayn and Oberon stood still as they looked down the cold barrel that was currently facing them. It was a young girl, taller than usual, with long brown hair and a blue streak in the back that they could only notice due to standing above her due to the porch's distance from the ground.

"Alright, just stay calm we won't hurt you," Zayn said.

"Drop your stuff," the girl said.

"Ok kid" Zayn replied.

"I am not a kid."

The two dropped the duffel of goodies, Zayn's hatchet, and Oberon's cricket bat.

"Look there's enough food for all of us here" Zayn started to plead as he saw another man come out of the house just in front of the one they recently looted.

He was much older, wearing a fireman's shirt and tan jacket with a slightly grown out buzzcut.

"Jenna! What's going on!" The man shouted from the other side of the street. He fast walked over to who was assumingly his daughter. He walked over to the front side of Jenna and held his hand on the barrel of the pistol and pushed it down.

"Jenna, we aren't bad people"

"But what if they are. We can't risk it!"

Oberon looked down at the shotgun. He grabbed it and aimed at the two

"Hey, I'm not sure who the hell you two are, but you better keep moseying on down that street"

The man was shocked, and the girl looked angered. Zayn was just as stunned as the man.

The man stepped forward to make a plea.

"Look, my name is Alan, I used to be a fireman downtown and this is my fifteen-year-old daughter Jenna. We're just going back to my apartment down there near Copley to grab my pain meds for my leg and shoulder, we can give you whatever you want as long as you let us live."

Zayn looked at Oberon, surprised to see his fiancée robbing someone. Oberon took a glance at Zayn, and back at the father and daughter.

"Alright drop your backpacks"

"Woah, wait, Oberon, no way are we robbing these people!" Zayn said. He stepped right in front of the barrel of the shotgun.

"Zayn, they might have more food or supplies that we don't have and downtown is a hellhole of walker's any way they are probably just gonna go straight to their death!"

Alan and Jenna suddenly got glum looks.

"Wait really? I thought the rioters were keeping the walkers out and it eventually died down?" Alan said disappointingly.

Oberon tilted his head over Zayn's shoulder to look into Alan's eyes.

"What do you think happened to the rioter's jackass! They were all either eaten alive or fled out of the city!" Oberon snapped.

"Hey, Ob! Stop right now!" Zayn said trying to calm him down. "Look. That's a damn kid you're about to shoot you want that blood on your hands?"

Oberon looked into Zayn's dark brown eyes.

"Just lower the gun Ob."

Oberon grew frustrated. How can his fiancée just go against him like that? He threw the gun to the ground and stood there enraged.

"Thanks, Ob just calm down. I'll work this out"

Zayn turned around to face Alan and Jenna.

"We have some meds in our van on the outskirts of this here park where we have been camping for the past month or so. After a while, the herd in the city will have to thin out and you guys can then get your real meds. You can stay at the van with us. I'm sure we can split food and drink."

"Zayn she just pointed a gun at -"

"Oberon!" Zayn snapped. "They seem like nice people. You're an amazing guy and you just pointed a gun at them, too right?"

Oberon looked reluctant.

"Fine"

Alan and Jenna were silent. Alan stepped forward responding.

"So, Zayn and Oberon then I presume, thanks for letting us stay and trust me we'll be able to pull our weight so it will be like we were never here once the herd clears."

"Alright, Alan sounds like a plan."

Zayn walked over and extended his hand. Alan shook it.

Oberon grabbed the duffel bag and was going for the shotgun until Zayn quickly grabbed it from him. The four returned to the park, full of the ghosts of unfulfilled dreams and ambitions, and went to retire for the day,


End file.
